The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has awarded a contract for services acquiring Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery to administer common agricultural policy schemes worth an estimated £2 million to Munich based firm European Space Imaging GmBH.
Defra has procured the contract for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) paying agencies of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including:
- England: Rural Payments Agency (RPA),
- Northern Ireland: Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA),
- Scotland: Rural Payments and Services,
- Wales: Rural Payments Wales.
Image:European Space Imaging GmBH ground station antenna
The panchromatic and multispectral Very High Resolution Satellite Imagery satellite imagery will be used for the following campaigns to administer Common Agricultural Policy Schemes:
- common land project
- Control with Remote Sensing (CwRS)
- LPIS QA.
Work on the contract started last month – the contract will three until September 2022 with the a further one year extension option.
European Space Imaging GmBH was the only company who bid for the contract. The firm is the only European satellite data provider to supply imagery at true 30 cm resolution and who own and operate its own multi-mission ground station for direct satellite tasking and local data downlink.